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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Cornelius (aka Con) Traas @theapplefarmer.bsky.social · 1d

Some personal news. Our youngest has released a song he wrote, performed and produced, on Spotify this morning. Any listens or promotes would be much appreciated.
open.spotify.com/album/2TPUzx...

Nothing Left

open.spotify.com

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Cornelius (aka Con) Traas @theapplefarmer.bsky.social · 1d

Some personal news. Our youngest has released a song he wrote, performed and produced, on Spotify this morning. Any listens or promotes would be much appreciated.
open.spotify.com/album/2TPUzx...

Nothing Left

open.spotify.com

5 7

Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 1d

the more I read about the promises OpenAI has made, the more disgusted I am. They've promised to deploy 10GW of Broadcom chips *by the end of 2029*, a chip that has yet to tape out, in data centers yet to be planned or funded or the power acquired. We are in a black hole of ethics and good sense.

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Mid Shannon wilderness Park - Awareness Group @midshannon.bsky.social · 2d

The pressures facing this red listed species on bogs here is well documented by us & the implications a semi-state has on the ground nesting sites by pumping these lands dry.
Reported time upon to the NPWS and absolutely nothing done. #biodiversityloss

www.thejournal.ie/readme/irela...

Opinion: Do you know our national bird? We aren't taking nearly enough care of it

The bird is on Ireland’s Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern.

www.thejournal.ie

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · 4d

Q: Why was the person responsible for the Blackwater fish kill never found?

A: it wasn’t anybody’s job.

I talked to the heads of all the agencies involved in the investigation, about why the biggest pollution event in Irish history fell between the cracks.

Listen: 👉 www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

CountryWide - RTÉ Radio 1

The CountryWide team feature the events, people and happenings that bring colour and life to communities, towns and villages across the country.

www.rte.ie

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Lamhfada @lamhfada.bsky.social · 3d

If Ireland was a just country, the people responsible for this would lose their land to the state, be forced to pay to replant the area and spend a decade in jail.

It isn't a just country though, so if they even get found out, they'll get a slap on the wrist of a few hundred euros fine at most.

Ireland's Native Woodland Trust @irishwoodlandtrust.bsky.social · 3d

This is what we're up against. People still removing woodlands when we've already lost so much

www.thejournal.ie/cork-tree-fe...

Investigation after more than 30 acres of native trees - some centuries old - felled in Co Cork

The Department of Agriculture has been formally alerted to the incident by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

www.thejournal.ie

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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · 4d

Global Warning now on Al Jazeera.

Episode 1 broadcast this week. Or you can stream it here.
👉 www.aljazeera.com/video/featur...
#Climate #ClimateCrisis hasn’t gone away.

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Meredith Rawls @merrdiff.bsky.social · 5d

"So, are mirrored satellites a practical means to produce affordable solar power at night? Probably not. Could they produce devastating light pollution? Absolutely."

10/10 no notes

theconversation.com/a-us-startup...

A US startup plans to deliver ‘sunlight on demand’ after dark. Can it work – and would we want it to?

Satellites beaming sunlight down to Earth sound like science fiction – and they have astronomers very worried.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 5d

The aim of football is to win the game, but if you tell a footballer, or a football fan, that they can win every game without even playing, they‘ll immediately ask ’What’s the point of that?’

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 5d

there’s this weird idea a lot of people seem to have about how all of us writers and artists must secretly want to use AI and are merely resisting temptation for ethical reasons, and like, no, it’s not hard for me to resist drinking the bowl of Piss With Glass In It actually

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Kevin J. CREATURE @kevinjkircher.com · 5d

Over 40% of corn grown in Indiana is used to make ethanol that cars burn. One acre of corn yields about 16,500 vehicle-miles per year of ethanol, which sounds high until you realize that one acre of solar yields about 2,700,000 vehicle-miles per year: 16,000% more driving for a given plot of land.

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Cornelius (aka Con) Traas @theapplefarmer.bsky.social · 5d

No doubt. It's a strange inversion of priorities. If you were washed up on a desert Island, you'd probably look for a water source first, then a food source, and then build a shelter. Yet now our shelter takes a higher priority than our food, and water is "free".

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 6d

Big piece in POLITICO asking about the independence of Ireland's process of appointing people to its Data Protection Commission. There is deep unease in Brussels about Ireland appointing a former Meta lobbyist as Meta's watchdog. Now questions about who was involved.

www.politico.eu/article/big-...

Big Tech lawyer played key role in picking Ireland’s new privacy regulator

Former Meta lobbyist Niamh Sweeney will co-lead the Irish Data Protection Commission from mid-October.

www.politico.eu

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Cornelius (aka Con) Traas @theapplefarmer.bsky.social · 5d

If people weren't being ripped off on the cost of accommadation, especially rent, a normal days pay would go much further. Food inflation is inevitable when inputs to food (energy related like fertiliser, fuel etc), and wages, are increasing, particularly when harvests are affected by climate events

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

South East on Track @seontrack.bsky.social · 5d

Leap Card should be extended to railway journeys outside major cities!
It’s less for a journey between Greystones and Howth (35km w/1 hr duration)than btw Wexford and Enniscorthy (20 kms, w/22min duration)
Why not encourage modal shift outside of the cities?
#Wexford #Enniscorthy #Gorey #Arklow

A screenshot of Irish Rail’s Fares calculator showing:
Tickets From Greystones To Howth
Ticket
Adult Leap Card
Adult Single
Price
€3.90
€5.10

A screenshot of the Wexford to Enniscorthy journey costing €5.10

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 6d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

heleninsomerset.bsky.social @heleninsomerset.bsky.social · 8d

“working environment is insufferable… We routinely come across cases of breathing issues, migraine, skin infections, even cancer.… risks are even higher in bleaching & dyeing units, where labourers handle toxic chemicals eg sulphuric acid with their bare hands.”
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Fast-fashion recycling: how ‘the castoff capital of the world’ is making Indian factory workers sick

Reports of lung disease, skin conditions and even cancer are rising in Panipat, which recycles 1 million tonnes of textile waste a year

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Go Green @ecowarriorss.bsky.social · 9d

Despite more extreme climate in UK and Ireland
UK to expand Gatwick Airport, with passenger numbers expected to rise by around 40% within next decade
and a huge rise in emissions
Likewise Ireland Dublin Airport to to push passenger numbers past a 32-million limit to fuel even more extreme climate

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Philip O'Connor @philipoconnor.bsky.social · 9d

If this is not reflected in the actions of our governments, then we can no longer say that we live in democracies.

News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 9d

NEW: Extraordinary scenes in Amsterdam this afternoon (Sunday, Oct 5).

An estimated 250,000 bring the city to a standstill; people all wearing red to show solidarity with Palestine 🇵🇸

(🎥 Ahmed Zantac)

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 10d

Warrior and legend.

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 10d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 9d

Wow

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 10d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Gareth Hanrahan @mytholder.bsky.social · 10d

Ha!

Like jelly, it sometimes seems as though the shape of an election campaign will never set. Unlike jelly, even when it does seem to be settling down, it can all be reshaped by last minute events, TV moments or just undecided voters not being enthused enough to turn out.
Actually, none of that is like jelly at all. Forget I mentioned jelly

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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 10d

We flounced out of the EU on the say-so of politicians who lied to us. And what a total shitshow that’s turned out to be. The polar opposite of what they promised. Now the call to flounce out of the ECHR. By the same people. Telling the same lies. Has the country been kicked in the head by a horse?

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Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas

Aislínn Kelly @aislinnn.bsky.social · 10d

We desperately need a budget that prioritises climate action. The time is now.
Some ideas from myself and @olaln.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/aislinna...

Budget 2026 Must Secure Our Future

We cannot face another year of denial and inaction

open.substack.com

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Cornelius (aka Con) Traas @theapplefarmer.bsky.social · 10d

Super thanks.

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Cornelius (aka Con) Traas @theapplefarmer.bsky.social · 10d

Why doesn't it add up to 100%?

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